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Another lesson in toe up sock knitting - turning heels
I'm knitting another pair of socks.
I know, I know. when it comes to the economics of hand knitting, socks are *ridiculous.* Sock yarn prices out from ten dollars to fifty dollars yarn cost for a pair of socks with about a six inch leg length above the ankle. There are tens of thousands of stitches on a pair of socks. you use Tiny little Needles to knit them with. And then you stuff them into shoes and they wear at the heels and toes. I know, it's *totally dumb.*
This will be my third pair of hand knit socks this year, and I have three more pairs of socks (potentially!) sitting in my yarn stash.
Because face it. nobody hand knits because it's an inexpensive way to make clothes. So why not spend 34 dollars on yarn (shipping included) for socks, and then invest another fourteen or so hours of skilled labour into them? Baby, aren't you worth it? Of course!
So that's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.
Now as I said at the beginning of the year, I'm a maniac when it comes to knitting, and so my favored method of sock construction is to start at the toes and work backwards. I also like to cast on both socks at the same time, so i can have a finished pair. I might cast on a pair of socks and knit them top down, but I'm always going to knit both socks at the same time. the extra effort really is worth it.
But my sticky point is heels. I dislike the short row heel. I have fairly high insteps, so I like a gusset for shape and fit. That usually means creating a rounded sole with short rows and then knitting up to create a "heel flap," though it isn't actually a heel flap, it just looks like one.
so i was knitting a sock that used a short row heel, and I went NOPE! and did a gusset. now I explained knitting a gusset on my arch shaped socks from new years, but only because you do it differently with the arch shaped sock. But then I was stuck, because...
well, I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. To knit up a gusset, you need to know your row gauge. in this case, it's 11 rows to the inch. I figured because the pattern I'm using is very stretchy, that i only needed to go two inches in length before turning the heel.
all right then. so i knit around, in pattern (a simple rib and eyelet pattern) and then on the sole, I knit one, made one, knit to last stitch, made one, knit one, and then the second row, i didn't increase at all. I repeated these two rows until I had increased 11 times.
and then i stopped, because I couldn't figure out the math for turning the heel for a flap! i went looking for a calculator or a formula so i could plug in my stitches, and I couldn't find a sock that matched, or a formula for heel turning until i found the fleegle heel.
THE FLEEGLE HEEL IS BRILLIANT. It is so simple. I will use it forever because it's way the heck easier than pie (as all of you who have ever actually MADE PIE fully realize) and it goes like this:
how many stitches do you have on your sole needle now that you're done the increases for the gusset?
excellent. divide that number in half, and put a marker right there.
so i knit until I was two stitches past the marker, knit two together, knit one, and turned the sock around.
then I pulled the yarn taut on that first stitch (no, you don't wrap it, just turn your work.) and i purled to two stitches past the marker, slip kwise, slip kwise, put both stitches back on the left needle, purl two together through the back loops, purl 1, turn.
This is where I ditched the marker. I don't even have to pay attention. I just knit until I hit the spot where my knitting seems to gap. I knit the stitches bordering that gap together, knit one, turn.
then I did the same thing: purl until the gap, and then I slip each stitch on either side of the gap knitwise, put them back on the left needle, purl them together through the back loops, purl one, turn.
I repeated that until I had "run out" of stitches on the sole needle. Heel is turned! the fit is good, because the sock is very stretchy.
I did the other sock heel, because while i could turn both heels simultaneously, i think it's just easier to turn heel one, then turn heel two and then go back to knitting in pattern when the heel turning is done.
I know, I know. when it comes to the economics of hand knitting, socks are *ridiculous.* Sock yarn prices out from ten dollars to fifty dollars yarn cost for a pair of socks with about a six inch leg length above the ankle. There are tens of thousands of stitches on a pair of socks. you use Tiny little Needles to knit them with. And then you stuff them into shoes and they wear at the heels and toes. I know, it's *totally dumb.*
This will be my third pair of hand knit socks this year, and I have three more pairs of socks (potentially!) sitting in my yarn stash.
Because face it. nobody hand knits because it's an inexpensive way to make clothes. So why not spend 34 dollars on yarn (shipping included) for socks, and then invest another fourteen or so hours of skilled labour into them? Baby, aren't you worth it? Of course!
So that's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.
Now as I said at the beginning of the year, I'm a maniac when it comes to knitting, and so my favored method of sock construction is to start at the toes and work backwards. I also like to cast on both socks at the same time, so i can have a finished pair. I might cast on a pair of socks and knit them top down, but I'm always going to knit both socks at the same time. the extra effort really is worth it.
But my sticky point is heels. I dislike the short row heel. I have fairly high insteps, so I like a gusset for shape and fit. That usually means creating a rounded sole with short rows and then knitting up to create a "heel flap," though it isn't actually a heel flap, it just looks like one.
so i was knitting a sock that used a short row heel, and I went NOPE! and did a gusset. now I explained knitting a gusset on my arch shaped socks from new years, but only because you do it differently with the arch shaped sock. But then I was stuck, because...
well, I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. To knit up a gusset, you need to know your row gauge. in this case, it's 11 rows to the inch. I figured because the pattern I'm using is very stretchy, that i only needed to go two inches in length before turning the heel.
all right then. so i knit around, in pattern (a simple rib and eyelet pattern) and then on the sole, I knit one, made one, knit to last stitch, made one, knit one, and then the second row, i didn't increase at all. I repeated these two rows until I had increased 11 times.
and then i stopped, because I couldn't figure out the math for turning the heel for a flap! i went looking for a calculator or a formula so i could plug in my stitches, and I couldn't find a sock that matched, or a formula for heel turning until i found the fleegle heel.
THE FLEEGLE HEEL IS BRILLIANT. It is so simple. I will use it forever because it's way the heck easier than pie (as all of you who have ever actually MADE PIE fully realize) and it goes like this:
how many stitches do you have on your sole needle now that you're done the increases for the gusset?
excellent. divide that number in half, and put a marker right there.
so i knit until I was two stitches past the marker, knit two together, knit one, and turned the sock around.
then I pulled the yarn taut on that first stitch (no, you don't wrap it, just turn your work.) and i purled to two stitches past the marker, slip kwise, slip kwise, put both stitches back on the left needle, purl two together through the back loops, purl 1, turn.
This is where I ditched the marker. I don't even have to pay attention. I just knit until I hit the spot where my knitting seems to gap. I knit the stitches bordering that gap together, knit one, turn.
then I did the same thing: purl until the gap, and then I slip each stitch on either side of the gap knitwise, put them back on the left needle, purl them together through the back loops, purl one, turn.
I repeated that until I had "run out" of stitches on the sole needle. Heel is turned! the fit is good, because the sock is very stretchy.
I did the other sock heel, because while i could turn both heels simultaneously, i think it's just easier to turn heel one, then turn heel two and then go back to knitting in pattern when the heel turning is done.